Saturday, January 30, 2010

WALNUT TARTS

I have always wanted to bake some tarts but somehow didn't do it until now. I am at present in my parents place having a lovely long 2 month vacation in Chennai with my baby. Today me and my mom decided to bake some tarts. Walnut Tarts are my favorite. I found this nice and easy recipe in the web (recipe below) and decided to give it a try.

This is making of the Short Crust Pastry. Sorry guys forgot to take pictures while making the dough. I did not use a food processor as mentioned in the recipe i used the tip of my finger to cut the butter into the flour, salt and sugar. Mix until the butter is well incorporated in the flour. Some butter bits will be tiny and others will be like pebbles. The dough may begin to come together in a rough sandy kind of way. Slowly add the ice water little at a time till the water mixes with all the flour. The mixture does not need to come to a ball, it should hold when pinched together. Dump on a clean surface, pess to a disk and wrap in cling wrap and refigerate for 1 hr.

The mistake I made is I rolled the pastry crust too thin since i wanted to fit it in all my 10 tart cups. Actually the recipe says you can make 12 tarts, I think they are smaller tart cups since mine was 4 inch tarts cups. Next time I will double the pastry crust recipe and then roll it out thicker to get a crunchy crust.

Tip: I felf that rolling each tart one by one on a floured surface was the best way to prevent the dough from sticking.
This is the procedure to make Walnut Butter Tart filling.


All my 10 tarts filled with walnut in the center
The Tarts ready to go into the oven.


These are my finished tarts

They tasted delicious.....everyone loved them....it was a big hit........I will surely try this recipe again.


This Butter Tarts recipe taken from Stephenie Jaworski at Joyofbaking.com


Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry):

1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces

1/8 to 1/4 cup (30 - 60 ml) ice water

Pate Brisee: In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/8 cup (30 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour.

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, place on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and cut into 12 - 4 inch (10 cm) rounds. (To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards).) Gently place the rounds into a 12-cup muffin tin. Cover and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up the dough. Next, make the butter tart filling.

Butter Tart Filling:

1/3 cup (70 grams) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (215 grams) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup (60 ml) light cream (half-and-half) (10% butterfat)

1/2 cup raisins or 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts (toasted and chopped) (optional)

Butter Tart Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla extract. Stir in the cream. If using nuts and/or raisins, place a spoonful in the bottom of each tart shell and then fill the unbaked tart shells with the filling. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the pastry has nicely browned and the filling is set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Makes 12 - 4 inch tarts.









Saturday, January 23, 2010

CHOCOLATE CHUNK AND WALNUT COOKIES




Its been a while since i uploaded a post in my blogger that because i am on a long vacation for 2 months (Jan and Feb) in Chennai India. I have been sleeping and eating this whole month so was feeling a bit guilty and decided to bake something today. I have been craving for some cookies and i had this recipe that i wanted to try for a long time.

 I used chocolate bits since i didnt have enough chocolate chips. I wanted crips and crunchy cookies so i baked them 1 tsp a time so that they would spread out thin and get crisp. If you want soft cookies you just have to make the cookies thick and cook for a shorter amount of time.

I dropped abt a teaspoon full and got around 130 cookies. (In one day almost half of it is gone )Everyone loved the cookies esp my one and a half year daughter Sanjukta. A picture says a Millon Words. You can see her reaction after eating the cookie.


You dont have to buy cookies from Famous Amos or Cookie Man ( India) to taste good cookies. These cookies will taste much better. Just make sure your cookies are stored in air tight containers so that they stay fresh.

Bye for Now




Monday, January 4, 2010

Fondant Birthday Cake






This is a very pretty fondant birthday cake i baked for my cousin. I used my newly bought impression mat to make lovely flower impressions on the side. The top of the cake has impressions which gives a lovely effect to the cake. The alphabets have been done using the marbleizing effect of fondant. The flowers are made from gumpaste. I was very pleased with the final result and my cousin loved it too....HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOSHA....

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Saturday, January 30, 2010

WALNUT TARTS

I have always wanted to bake some tarts but somehow didn't do it until now. I am at present in my parents place having a lovely long 2 month vacation in Chennai with my baby. Today me and my mom decided to bake some tarts. Walnut Tarts are my favorite. I found this nice and easy recipe in the web (recipe below) and decided to give it a try.

This is making of the Short Crust Pastry. Sorry guys forgot to take pictures while making the dough. I did not use a food processor as mentioned in the recipe i used the tip of my finger to cut the butter into the flour, salt and sugar. Mix until the butter is well incorporated in the flour. Some butter bits will be tiny and others will be like pebbles. The dough may begin to come together in a rough sandy kind of way. Slowly add the ice water little at a time till the water mixes with all the flour. The mixture does not need to come to a ball, it should hold when pinched together. Dump on a clean surface, pess to a disk and wrap in cling wrap and refigerate for 1 hr.

The mistake I made is I rolled the pastry crust too thin since i wanted to fit it in all my 10 tart cups. Actually the recipe says you can make 12 tarts, I think they are smaller tart cups since mine was 4 inch tarts cups. Next time I will double the pastry crust recipe and then roll it out thicker to get a crunchy crust.

Tip: I felf that rolling each tart one by one on a floured surface was the best way to prevent the dough from sticking.
This is the procedure to make Walnut Butter Tart filling.


All my 10 tarts filled with walnut in the center
The Tarts ready to go into the oven.


These are my finished tarts

They tasted delicious.....everyone loved them....it was a big hit........I will surely try this recipe again.


This Butter Tarts recipe taken from Stephenie Jaworski at Joyofbaking.com


Pate Brisee (Short Crust Pastry):

1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces

1/8 to 1/4 cup (30 - 60 ml) ice water

Pate Brisee: In a food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). Pour 1/8 cup (30 ml) water in a slow, steady stream, through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when pinched. If necessary, add more water. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball. Flatten into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using. This will chill the butter and relax the gluten in the flour.

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, place on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough and cut into 12 - 4 inch (10 cm) rounds. (To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards).) Gently place the rounds into a 12-cup muffin tin. Cover and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up the dough. Next, make the butter tart filling.

Butter Tart Filling:

1/3 cup (70 grams) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (215 grams) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup (60 ml) light cream (half-and-half) (10% butterfat)

1/2 cup raisins or 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts (toasted and chopped) (optional)

Butter Tart Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla extract. Stir in the cream. If using nuts and/or raisins, place a spoonful in the bottom of each tart shell and then fill the unbaked tart shells with the filling. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 15 - 20 minutes or until the pastry has nicely browned and the filling is set. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Makes 12 - 4 inch tarts.









Saturday, January 23, 2010

CHOCOLATE CHUNK AND WALNUT COOKIES




Its been a while since i uploaded a post in my blogger that because i am on a long vacation for 2 months (Jan and Feb) in Chennai India. I have been sleeping and eating this whole month so was feeling a bit guilty and decided to bake something today. I have been craving for some cookies and i had this recipe that i wanted to try for a long time.

 I used chocolate bits since i didnt have enough chocolate chips. I wanted crips and crunchy cookies so i baked them 1 tsp a time so that they would spread out thin and get crisp. If you want soft cookies you just have to make the cookies thick and cook for a shorter amount of time.

I dropped abt a teaspoon full and got around 130 cookies. (In one day almost half of it is gone )Everyone loved the cookies esp my one and a half year daughter Sanjukta. A picture says a Millon Words. You can see her reaction after eating the cookie.


You dont have to buy cookies from Famous Amos or Cookie Man ( India) to taste good cookies. These cookies will taste much better. Just make sure your cookies are stored in air tight containers so that they stay fresh.

Bye for Now




Monday, January 4, 2010

Fondant Birthday Cake






This is a very pretty fondant birthday cake i baked for my cousin. I used my newly bought impression mat to make lovely flower impressions on the side. The top of the cake has impressions which gives a lovely effect to the cake. The alphabets have been done using the marbleizing effect of fondant. The flowers are made from gumpaste. I was very pleased with the final result and my cousin loved it too....HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOSHA....

 

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